Greyhounds

Just when it looked as if the Loyola Greyhounds were primed to turn the corner, they again last night hit the proverbial brick wall. Loyola shot 35 percent from the field and 58 percent from the foul line, rallying late only to come up short in a 72-65 loss to Manhattan before an announced 1,512 at Reitz Arena. It was the team's second straight loss after a season-high six-game winning streak. "That's two times in a row I just didn't think emotionally or mentally we were ready to play," Greyhounds coach Jimmy Patsos said.

Loyola College used a history lesson and the most explosive player in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to end a two-game losing streak last night, beating visiting Canisius, 77-74, to regain a share of first place. Gerald Brown, who had a game-high 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting, was coming off a rotten weekend up North, where the Greyhounds dropped two games and he picked up a cold. The lost weekend led coach Jimmy Patsos to tell his basketball team about his experiences as a Maryland assistant in 2001, when the Terps recovered from a pair of brutal losses to Duke and Florida State to reach their first Final Four.

The fans who filed into Reitz Arena last night expected an offensive show from two of the nation's top seven scorers, and they got what they wanted from Towson University senior guard Gary Neal and Loyola junior guard Gerald Brown. But, on a night when the visiting Tigers started strong and never trailed, it was Towson junior guard C.C. Williams who delivered the final blows that put away the Greyhounds, 70-62, before 2,842. Williams, 6 feet 1, stood tallest in the last minute, as Towson (8-9)

In the middle of its men's lacrosse season opener at Loyola yesterday, 12th-ranked Towson University was searching for a spark, and junior midfielder Brian Vetter delivered it. Vetter scored a game-high four goals, including three in the second half, to lead the visiting Tigers to a come-from-behind, 9-8 victory before 1,492 at Geppi-Aikens Field. The victory was Towson's third straight over its Charles Street rival, and it dropped Loyola to 0-2. After taking a 2-0 lead before the Greyhounds had touched the ball, Towson weathered a five-goal outburst in the first quarter that put Loyola in front 5-3. After that, Towson gradually gained control of the contest.

Loyola coach Charley Toomey won yesterday because he won three years ago. That's when he first learned about Greyhounds starting sophomore goalie Alex Peaty, then a junior at the Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. The word in lacrosse circles was that Peaty, from Victoria, British Columbia, was headed to Syracuse. Toomey was relentless in his recruitment and eventually persuaded Peaty to sign with Loyola. Yesterday, Peaty was magnificent, finishing with 15 saves, 10 in the first half, as No. 12 Loyola defeated ECAC rival and visiting Massachusetts, 10-8, at Diane Geppi-Aikens Field.

A great afternoon's work by the 12th-ranked Loyola College men's lacrosse team almost was erased during one, final, wild minute yesterday against visiting No. 11 Syracuse. But in the end, after the Greyhounds had nearly blown a four-goal lead they built by controlling the Orange throughout the fourth quarter, Loyola sophomore goalie Alex Peaty saved the day. Peaty stepped up to stop a point-blank shot by Syracuse sophomore attackman Kenny Nims as time expired, and Loyola escaped with a huge, 11-10 victory before 3,582 at Diane Geppi-Aikens Field.

No. 9 Navy led from start to finish yesterday, as the Midshipmen defeated No. 16 North Carolina (3-1) 19-8 at Navy Marine Corps Stadium, before 5,125 . The Midshipmen improved to 3-0 while the Tar Heels lost their first game after opening with three wins for the first time since 2002. Nick Mirabito and Ian Dingman each had three goals for the Midshipmen, while Ben Hunt led the Tar Heels with three goals and Sean Burke had two goals and two assists. Navy outscored the Tar Heels 5-2 in the second quarter.

The stark contrast between Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A and B Conference football was never more evident than yesterday at Gilman. Defending A Conference tri-champ and No. 3 Gilman was victorious, 36-0, over St. Mary's, a B Conference title hopeful, in the season opener for both. With junior running back Jordan Love leading all rushers with 81 yards on 11 attempts, including the game's first touchdown from the 12-yard line, the host Greyhounds rolled up 185 yards on the ground.

The roots run deep between Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos and Vermont coach Mike Lonergan, as they were teammates at Catholic University and worked under Maryland coach Gary Williams. The similarities between the two coaches extend to the court, where both have the same fiery style and like to play up-tempo to force their opponents into turning over the ball. Patsos got the best of his former roommate as the Greyhounds shot 52.2 percent from three-point range en route to a physical 83-79 victory over the Catamounts last night before an announced 1,327 at Reitz Arena.

On the morning after recording one of their bigger men's lacrosse victories in recent seasons, the Loyola Greyhounds were not shocked they had taken down top-ranked Duke. In the previous two years, as the No. 20 Greyhounds have been trying to rebuild their program and get back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001, Loyola had lost twice to the Blue Devils by a combined three goals. Late Saturday night in the featured contest of the 2007 First 4 event at the University of San Diego's Torero Stadium, Loyola got over the hump in dramatic fashion.

Senior Day at C. Milton Wright didn't turn out the way the Mustangs' field hockey team hoped Wednesday. Its Harford County rival, Fallston, a team it had taken to double overtime several times over the past five years without winning, was on deck. The hillside was spray-painted in honor of the team's seniors, saying, "We'll miss you. Good Luck," and the sidelines were filled with fans. But the luck wasn't there. No. 9 Fallston won, 5-1. "Every single alumni girl is waiting to hear if we beat Fallston today," C. Milton Wright coach Bonnie Schnell said.

PERFORMER OF THE YEAR Graham Bazell Atholton There was no question that Bazell was the top distance runner in the area after he won the Class 3A state title in cross country and followed with a strong indoor season. But everything started to fall apart for the senior early in the spring season. The Stanford-bound Bazell began to get pain in his legs, and also had to battle fatigue. It took a while, but doctors finally figured out that he had a low potassium level and told him to eat about three bananas daily to get back to normal.

Tagged as the team to beat from the start in the country's finest boys lacrosse league, No. 1 Gilman stayed on course and saved its best for last in Monday's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship against No. 2 Calvert Hall. With balanced scoring, gritty work in the middle and stingy play in back, the Greyhounds came away with a 13-7 win over the Cardinals before an estimated 4,500 at Towson University's Johnny Unitas Stadium. It's the fourth MIAA championship for Gilman, which finished the season with a 15-1 mark.

The Loyola Greyhounds can complain all they want about not making the 16-team NCAA Division I lacrosse tournament, but they shouldn't. They don't have anyone to blame but themselves. The 2009 season was one of near misses for Loyola (9-5), a team that couldn't get over the proverbial hump. Entering the selection committee meeting Sunday night, Loyola and Brown were fighting for the final playoff berth, and it basically came down to which team had the most wins against teams in the field.

Brian Christopher played hero - again. For the second time in three games, the senior midfielder scored the game-winning goal in double overtime. This time, his tally 25 seconds into the second extra session propelled the No. 9 Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team to an 11-10 victory over No. 18 Loyola on Saturday at Homewood Field. The Blue Jays won their sixth consecutive game and improved to 9-4. The Greyhounds (9-5), who had won four straight, are in a more tenuous position as the teams wait to find out their postseason fates Selection Sunday.

Mount Hebron's Ashley Bruns is best known for her scoring power, but in Saturday night's game against Moorestown, N.J., the senior made the biggest play of the game on defense. With the host Vikings clinging to a one-goal lead in overtime after Julianne Giles broke a tie, Moorestown won the next draw, but Bruns knocked down a Quakers pass and Giles scooped up the ground ball. The Vikings stalled away the final 2 minutes, 40 seconds to hand the Quakers their first loss of the season, 12-11.

For the No. 1 Gilman boys lacrosse team, it was no secret that Tuesday's test against two-time defending Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference champion Loyola wasn't just another regular-season game. It was the teams' first meeting since the Dons walked off with a one-goal win in last year's title game, and the Greyhounds were ready. Precise on attack early and showing resilience later, the host Greyhounds earned a 9-6 win over the No. 5 Dons. Senior midfielder Jack Doyle scored three goals, and senior attackman Marcus Holman added two goals and two assists to lead the Greyhounds, who improved to 9-0 overall and 5-0 in the MIAA.

Coach Charley Toomey did what he could, but there was no way to keep the Loyola men's lacrosse team out of the loop. With some of the Greyhounds aware of No. 13 Massachusetts' upset loss to Georgetown earlier in the day, No. 19 Loyola scored five of the game's first six goals against visiting Fairfield en route to a 12-7 thumping in a key Eastern College Athletic Conference game before an announced 2,104 at Diane Geppi-Aikens Field on Saturday. Attackman Shane Koppens had three goals and two assists, and linemate Collin Finnerty posted his own hat trick and an assist as the Greyhounds improved to 8-4 overall and 5-1 in the ECAC.

Against a determined McDonogh boys lacrosse team Friday, top-ranked Gilman didn't get the surplus of goals its potent attack is accustomed to scoring. But the Greyhounds showed other facets - solid defense and poised play in the closing minutes at the forefront - to come away with a 7-4 win over the No. 9 Eagles in Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference play. Senior midfielder Greg McBride scored three first-quarter goals and senior attackman Davey Emala scored his second goal of the game with 6:05 left to give the Greyhounds a two-goal cushion over the Eagles, who got a stellar 12-save performance from Trevor Siebert.

Sunday's meeting with No. 7 Syracuse was a bellwether game for the No. 13 Loyola women's lacrosse team. A little past midseason, this 17-10 loss to the Orange in a Big East contest at Diane Geppi-Aikens Field showed how far the Greyhounds still have to go, but it also measured how far they have come in their resurgence. In her first season as coach, Jen Adams, a former star player at Maryland and assistant with the Terps and Denver, has guided Loyola (8-4, 1-3) to victories over three ranked teams and to its first Top 20 ranking since March 2005.